Fasted cardio has long been a practice used by many people, with the belief that performing the cardiovascular exercise while in a fasted state (usually overnight) promotes a greater amount of fat burning. It is a nice sounding theory, but does it hold up in practice? To tackle that question, Brad Schoenfeld designed a study to analyze whether or not cardiovascular exercise (you can see the details of his prescription in the article) increases fat burning when performed in a fasted state as compared to a fed state. The results are very interesting, and Brad does a great job explaining the statistical interpretation of the data which important to understand. A single study is simply a piece in an evidentiary puzzle and can never considered the final word on a topic. What I do think is clear from our study, however, is that if there are any benefits from fasted cardio (still highly equivocal), they would be minor at best. So the best advice for those who are simply looking to get lean is to focus on total energy and macronutrient balance; whether you perform cardio fasted or fed should depend entirely on preference. On the other hand, it remains possible that a small benefit could be seen by performing fasted cardio. If such an effect does exist, it would seem to be only meaningful to someone who is competing in a bodybuilding or physique competition, where minute differences in fat mass could make the difference between winning or losing a competition. I will point out, however, that it also is conceivable fasted cardio could have a negative effect in this regard. A recent study by Paoli et al showed that lipid utilization over 24 hours was actually higher when eating prior to cardio as opposed to remaining fasted. Thus, the best advice here would be to experiment and try to objectively determine what works best for you as an individual. Link: lookgreatnaked/blog/my-new-study-on-fasted-cardio-and-fat-loss-take-home-points/ Image: bodybuilding/fun/images/2010/cardio-controversy_a.jpg
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 13:30:01 +0000
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